Today is the anniversary of the birth of Adlai Stevenson II (1900-1965), governor of Illinois and twice presidential candidate on the Democratic Party ticket. His final political role was as American ambassador to the United Nations.

In his day Stevenson was considered something of an intellectual among politicians; he certainly would be considered that today. He was not the best judge of character—in 1949 he testified at a Congressional hearing in defense of Alger Hiss—nor the best...

One hundred years ago today the Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, bringing Americans the joy of the income tax. You see some of them—perhaps your grandparents or great-grandparents among them—in this 1920 photo of people filling out tax forms at an IRS office.

Not many Americans complete their 1040s that way any more. Most use tax preparation software. I've been doing my taxes on the computer for years, and the process, though a bit tedious, is straightforward...

"Once the decision had been made, to tarry in the opposition party would have been inconsistent with my whole past. I would have set my own infallibility in the place of the infallibility of the Church."

~ Karl von Hefele, Bishop of Rottenburg, university professor, theologian, prolific writer, and adamant opponent of the proposed doctrine of papal infallibility, on his subsequent submission to the Magisterium of the Church as promulgated at Vatican Council I.